Huawei: Tonga to resume int'l voice communications this week

Huawei Technologies Co, which has provided technologies for telecom facilities in Tonga, said the island nation is expected to resume international voice communications this week.

Huawei said the massive eruption of an underwater volcano off Tonga has damaged the local communication facilities in the nation to a certain extent, and it is currently relying on satellite phones to communicate with the outside world.

Huawei said it is now able to reach local partners in Tonga via satellite phones, and local telecom operators are scrambling to repair communication facilities, and the focus of the repair work is to restore satellite data services to help Tonga reconnect to the internet as soon as possible and restore voice communication.

Tonga's submarine communication fiber optic cables may be difficult to repair in the short term due to damage caused by the volcanic eruption, Huawei added.